NORTH CAROLINA — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now announced the launch of a campaign calling out Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-08) for opposing Medicare negotiation bill H.R. 3, and calling on him to support the legislation that would lower drug prices for Americans. The patient advocacy group also extended its existing grassroots campaign, in which patients will contact Reps. Deborah Ross (NC-02) and Kathy Manning (NC-06) to thank them for supporting the legislation. 

“Rep. Hudson has a choice — he can continue to do the bidding of Big Pharma, or he can stand with patients by supporting Medicare negotiation and H.R. 3,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Instead, he is attempting to block legislation that could save the lives of 94,000 Americans each year. As Therese Ball, a multiple sclerosis patient, says in the ad, ‘It’s unforgivable.’ Rep. Hudson can still do the right thing by endorsing H.R. 3, which will deliver the innovation we need at prices we can afford.”

Rep. Hudson took more money from pharma than any other member of the House of Representatives during the 2020 election cycle. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, he has taken many opportunities to attackH.R. 3. 

The campaign kicks off with a new video ad featuring multiple sclerosis patient and registered nurse Therese Ball from Ogden Dunes, Indiana. To manage her symptoms, Ball is prescribed Tysabri, which is priced at $7,463 each month. 

“As a nurse, I had patients who struggled to pay for their prescription drugs. When I was diagnosed with MS, I became one, too. The medications I need to live are priced at over $7,000 a month,” Ball, a grandmother and retired nurse, says in the video ads. “Members of Congress are choosing Big Pharma over patients. It’s unforgivable.” 

“Ninety percent of Americans want Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, but Rep. Kurt Schrader is working to block it,” the ad says. “Tell him to do the right thing and support the Lower Drug Costs Now Act.”

Watch the video ad here.

P4ADNow also launched similar ads calling out Reps. David Valadao (CA-21), Scott Peters (CA-52), and Kurt Schrader (OR-05), who have also refused to endorse H.R. 3.

P4ADNow launched its first campaign directed towards the 117th Congress on May 20. The national campaign had a seven-figure budget and called for support of H.R. 3 in 42 House districts across 22 states and in D.C. It expandedlast week, adding two more House districts. The campaign is, in part, a counterweight to Big Pharma’s attack ads loaded with lies about H.R. 3 and includes video ads, digital ads, and grassroots advocacy.

H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, was reintroducedin the House of Representatives in April. The chamber passed the bill in the 116th Congress. It will lower prices, rein in price gouging, and reduce out-of-pocket costs by restoring balance to the U.S. drug pricing system to ensure both innovation and affordability.

###